Nick Pilgrim heads into the Americas Triathlon Cup Magog in Canada tomorrow eyeing a spot in the top 15.

The 21-year-old Bermudian is part of a large field of 65 elite men for the competition, where the bulk of the participants are from the home nation.

Pilgrim and his fellow competitors will have to deal with an 750-metre swim, a three-lap 20-kilometre bike ride and 5km run.

“Finishing in the top 15 would be amazing, that is my goal going into this one,” Pilgrim said.

“It’s quite a competitive field, I did this before when I was a junior, so a top fifteen would be really good.”

After failing to finish two of his World Triathlon competitions, with the last one due to the extreme heat in Miami on March 8, Pilgrim was sixteenth in 57min 1sec at the Americas Triathlon Cup Ixtapa, in Mexico, on June 8.

The placing in Mexico was the best position in a senior race for one of Bermuda’s up-and-coming triathletes, who is hoping to qualify for the next Commonwealth Games and Los Angeles Olympics.

Pilgrim, a student at the University of Bath, warmed up for the continental event by finishing third in last Sunday’s cycling event, BJC Road Race, behind Conor White and Matt Boys.

He feels that the ride helped him work on the second discipline in triathlon.

“It was a good opportunity to get a hard session on the bike this past Sunday to prepare me for this weekend,’’ he said.

“The week before that I did the Mallory Park heats and finals. That one wasn't great, I went the wrong way on the swim course, and I had to turn around and go back, which put me right at the back.”